Skills K-Kids Develop

Learning Social and Emotional Skills

How does K-Kids impact those involved? It helps in developing important Social and Emotional Skills, which allows club members to understand self and develop meaningful connections with others. Club members learn to calm down when angry, initiate meaningful friendships, resolve relationship conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices.

The five core categories of Social and Emotional Learning are listed below. K-Kids members attain skills in each core area through participation in the research, planning and implementation of community service projects.

Social awareness
Taking the perspective of empathizing with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences; identifying the following social standards of conduct; and recognizing and using family, school, and community resources.

Relationship skills
Establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation; resisting inappropriate social pressure; preventing, managing, and resolving interpersonal conflict; and seeking help when needed.

Responsible decision-making
Making decisions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, appropriate standards of conduct, respect for others, and likely consequences of various actions; applying decision-making skills to academic and social situations; and contributing to the well-being of one's school and community.

Learn more

Visit the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, CASEL, to learn more about how social and emotional skills make a difference in a young person and his/her future.

NBC News Education Nation has produced an online Social and Emotional Learning toolkit for parents that offers a wide variety of resources and information. This toolkit can be used by anyone interested in helping young people attain these skills.